Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I had just purchased a Sako 75 rifle in 25-06. I had taken the stock off of the action/barrel to lower the trigger pull, as instructed in the manual. I was checking various parts of the gun to ensure that they looked up to par. I then loaded up the box magazinea few times andcycled through itto make sure that it fed properly.On the fourth or fifthtime I was cycling the gun,itwent off in my hands!! I know I didn't touch the trigger. I had it pointed in a safe direction of course, (well, safe for everything except my truck. My passenger side door doesn't work anymore.) Has this ever happened to anyone else? Should I contact Sako? I'm not a lawsuit happy person, but would Sakobe responsible for the damage to my truck?

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Not if you adjusted the trigger, you need to check it without any ammo first.
Glad you weren't hurt, good lesson.

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

That was my initial thought, except that the manual shows how to adjust the trigger. In fact, that's one of the nice features of the gun, you don't need a gunsmith to adjust the trigger, just an allen wrench. I wouldn't think the gun should be able to adjust so loose that it can go off. In hind sight, I should have followed the procedure you mentioned cma3366a, but I had never heard of something like this happening before.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

That is the reason most gun manufacturers don't like to put adjustable triggers on their guns. I had the same problem when I put one on my .22 rifle. Though we were checking it with it unloaded. I just tightened it up a little so it would not happen again. Most people try to set the trigger too light and when you close the bolt it can go off. That is why they recommend you have a gunsmith do it if you never have done one before so it is done safely.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Not knocking you too much pal, but I wouldn't dare sue or expect Sako to be responsible. You didn't have the gun pointed in a safe direction with live ammo. Broke a golden rule.

When I adjust a trigger, I work the action well over 20 times, very hard and very fast. Without ammo. I then load it with live ammo, and have the barrel pointed in a safe direction (not towards walls, people, or vehicles, maybe my wifes dog:D). I then work it a few times. Even after that I don't fully trust the trigger. Confidense if over time.

You can tell I have adjusted a few remington triggers.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Thats funny right there! Thats why S&W pistols now have internal locks on them. Frivolous lawsuits!

Dude...you shot a hole in your truck....its YOUR FAULT. Sure, the trigger sear shouldn't have slipped...or slam fired...whatever....but Sako didn't point it at your truck, you did.

Thats why you should always have a liscensed and insured GUNSMITH work on your triggers....that would give you a right to recourse for repair (at least on the gun....but still probably not on the truck, depends how good a lawyer you have)....but if you aren't savy enough to point a rifle in a safe direction...you just ought not have guns. Sorry to sound like an ass...but thats just how it is. I'm glad you are alright, and that nothing worse than your truck was hurt...but just let it be an expensive lesson.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Not trying to shift the point of blame, but I do find it interesting that the manual never gave me the same great advice on testing the actionyou guys did.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I can't say I have adjusted my sako75 trigger. It was pretty nice from the factory, but will check my manual tonight to see what it says.

I agree, it should tell you to work the action a bunch of times and hard.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

You know it would be interesting to see the damage it did to your truck.:)


Did it only penetrate one door? Just curious

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I read the whole English section of the manual (6 pages) and don't remember seeing anything about working the action. If I'm wrong though, I'll feel like a jackass.

I'll post the pics tonight just for kicks. My driver's side door was open, so it actually took a funny path. It went diagonally through the truck seat (I don't know what angle, but fairly wide) and then must have ricocheted off of something in the truck, because the path completely changed directions from where it entered to exiting my passenger's side door.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

This is why one of the rules of gun safety is to NEVER point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot or destroy. Even if the gun is not loaded.

Cycling the action of a firearm with live ammo while pointed at something you value is just asking for disaster. Don't temp fate;).

Read and re-read your sig line.

Paul

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Well, just so you dont' feel so bad. I will share my jackass moment with ya. Ok, just got my first pistol. I was 18 years old, and just got my first apartment.It was amodel 13 nickel plated 357mag. Well, firing this thing, left the blast residue on the cylinder. I always kept it loaded. I tried to clean of the blast residue one day with a cleese cloth I bought, and decided to turn the chamber (with live rounds). My finger slipped and off it fired thru 2 walls into a oven of my first apartment. I used toothpaste to patch the holes, and quicly spray painted, called the next day to the landlord and compalined my oven wasn't working. Hey, important lesson, crap happens, so don't play with loaded guns.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Congratulations! You had the negligent discharge that every gun owner swears can't happen to them without killing something expensive or irreplaceable.

When workingwith mechanical or any other systems with tolerances, you need to use a bit of common sense. You can rightfully expect that if you turn screw 'X' that you shhould get 'Y' result, but in the real world it doesn't always work that way. Did you use a trigger guage to check the setting? A lot of triggers can only be safely set within a certain range.

I'm not trying to ride you hard or anything, but you might have just learned the difference between learning from a book and learning from experience- book learning is easy, experience requires pain.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Sorry for your damages but feel fortunate it was only a door and not another person. The only thing I can add is you broke the most important rule of gun safety...you didn't have muzzle control. All guns need to be treated like they are loaded and are never pointed to a place where they could injure a person or damage something if it went off. I am not preaching to you because I actually had a similar thing happen to me a long time ago. Different manufactorer and different situation but none the less I was at fault...period. It wasn't Sakos fault it was yours. You were lucky and probably learned a valuable lesson just like I did so many years ago. Guns are never perfect and when you know the safety is on there is always a risk that something could happen and it could fire...hense the rule to always keep your muzzle under control.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Hehehe I think this is one I wouldnt have told....but glad nobody was hurt so we can make light of it.


BTW was the truck a wallhanger? Did it run far??:D:D

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Sounds like you adjusted it to much and you ended up with a hair trigger that could go off with the least amount of pressure.

"Not trying to shift the point of blame, but I do find it interesting that the manual never gave me the same great advice on testing the actionyou guys did."

Did your cars manual give you advice on how to drive it? Use common sense when messing with guns and hopefully you'll be safe. Ive adjusted the triggers to much before on my muzzleloaders and had them go off " unloaded" when i'd bump the rifle. 2 1/2lbs is light enough for a hunting rifle. Anything lighter and you're asking for trouble. Glad you wernt hurt though, thats the most important. Just try to keep this experience in mind next time you go and try to adjust.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

After adjusting any trigger,I cock the gun,release the safety,and then I sharply strike the bolt with a small soft faced hammer to see if the gun will fire.I recock the bolt and repeat this procedure a few times and if the gun can be made to fire by striking the bolt,I readjust the trigger.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Don't feel bad. I don't know any hunters or shooters that have not made a safety error. I shot a hole in my neighbors wall (the shell was stuck in the peice even after cycling it several times. I didn't visually check.) My huntin partner shot a hole the roof of his tent trying to get a primer off of a muzzleloader. Fact is we all had our guns in safe directions. Yes property and or merchendise was damaged. But I got the scare of my life along with feeling like an ass.....and no one was hurt. This lesson has stuck with me more than any mantra from Jeff Cooper. And no one was hurt. I am glad you were not hurt, either. And you will never forget the lesson.
AND BTW Jeff Copper said "don't point your firearm at anything you do not wish to destroy." I don't know about you, but I have had a few trucks that deserved to be shot.\
STAY SAFE OUT THERE! THE ANTI GUN WORLD JUDGES US PRETTY SEVERLEY
okcmco

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

True, butI figured a company would at least give a warning if this is a possibility.Anymore mostof the warnings out there are ridiculous, like don't eat this weird chemical in this package. To those with experience or wisdom, this is common sense. But I read the entire manual through and through to make sure I was doing it right, and never knew about this scenario. To me, common sense and ignorance are a fine line, I was ignorant, but I at least used common sense in trying to follow the proper procedure.

P.S. I didn't forgot to post photos. I took the pics, but can't find my camera USB cable, and I looked everywhere. I might just go get a new one. And after careful investigation, the path of this bullet was pretty amazing, you'll see soon.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

There was once a store called Gibson's in Copperas Cove TX. A woman bought a little cheapie derringer type pistol there one day, loaded it, pointed it at her hand, and shot a hole in her hand. Whether she did this on purpose or not is unknown, but she sued Gibsons and the pistol manufacturer.

The Texas judge, being a relatively intelligent type, tossed her suit and told her not to come back.

I think your problem is in the same category! You should NOT EVER test a gun like you did unless you are at a safe firing range, and have the muzzle pointed toward the targets. Do your feeding tests with DUMMY cartridges.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I overadjusted my Savage's accutrigger and the firing pin engaged when I cycled the bolt. But nothing was shot. Why? Because the only thing in that gun was a spent primer (it's a muzzleloader). Next time use fired brass or dummy rounds for testing, please.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

This is a very true statement.

Anyone who has ever read any Robert Ruark at length probably remembers him writing of how his grandpa taught him how to shoot quail and how to be safe with firearms. And espeically about how is grandpa told him not to take the safety off until after the birds got up, and as he was shouldering the gun. Then his grandad told him to give it a try on a pinecone dry, and not knowing his grandad had reloaded the gun, he pulled up on that pinecone thinking he was dry firing. BOOM! And as he wrote that at the age of 50, he said that he NEVER EVER had forgotten how bad that scared him.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

RedHead,

Along with the important lesson you just learned, I feel you now bear the respondsibility to tell as many people that you know that handle fire arms. You could save a life.

I will tell you about the only time I've ever had a mishap with a gun. I was at the range with my K31. I grabbed the rifle and attempted to move it into better position and my hand slipped striking the trigger and setting the gun off. Luckily it was pointed down range. Something I had always known was now cemented in my brain. Always keep your rifle pointed down range/safe direction.

Tom

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Personally I wouldn't adjusta trigger, even those on my Sakos, without having a trigger pull gauge to know exactly what pull weight I'm adjusting it to. If it's adjustedoutsidethe range the manufacturer says it can or should be adjusted to, then you should expect problems.

Anyway, glad you're okay and hope you've learned a valuable lesson.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Cannot add a thing to what cma and bigcountry have already said on the subject.i use a procedure much like theirs to ensure that the rifle will not fire when slapped around. Additionally, i also slap the crap out of the stock with the heel of my hand. It isa good idea to take the scope off beforebanging the rifle around.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

So you decided to adjust the fire control mechanism on a rifle and then decided to test it with live ammo?????????
Are you friggin kidding me????????

Here's your sign!

From the manual...
WARNING! FOR SAFETY REASON DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REDUCE THE TRIGGER PRESSURE BELOW 10 NEWTONS (2 LBS).

Did you check the trigger pull weight before you decided it was a good idea to test it with live ammo? I suspect that yours was adjusted to about a half pound or less.


From the manual...
Both the sear engagement and safety are set at the factory and need no adjustment of any kind. CAUTION! The sear engagement, safety and other components of the action are precision mechanisms, which were properly adjusted at the factory. They should not be altered, modified or changed. Modifications ot the firearm may decrease its safety and increase the risk of serious injury.


And they on top of that they also provide you with another brochure that includes safety rules for you to follow.

#1. NEVER POINT A FIREARM AT SOMETHING THAT IS NOT SAFE TO SHOOT. You pointed it at a truck.

#2. ALWAYS TREAT A FIREARM AS IF IT WERE LOADED. Yours was.

#5 KNOW THE SAFETY FEATURES OF THE FIREARM THAT YOU ARE USING, BUT REMEMBER: SAFETY DEVICES ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR SAFE HANDLING PROCEDURES. You tested trigger adjustments with live ammo.



I think that Sako gave you plenty enough print material to keep you from doing something like this. The blame is yours and no one elses. Hopefully you learned from this and will never do something like this again.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

You know I don't mean to laugh. But this struck me funny. I can see Bigbulls sitting there with a serious look shaking his head in disbelief. Its what we all were thinking.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I was going to check what the instructions on the Sako manual had for trigger adjustment but I don’t think I have to now...:eek:

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

That's exactly what I was doing.

This reminds me of the McDonalds law suits.

"Shouldn't Mconalds have a warning on their menu thattells me ifI eat too much of this fatty food that I may end up getting fat and die of a heart attack?"

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

#1 This will happen to all of us . I emptied a S&W tiped it up pushed the ejector counted the five in hand closed the cylinder and promtly shot my headboard .
#2 Its only a mechanical device and as safe as the guy behind it . My grandfather never bought anything of second rate His model 70 was ad'ed in camp when he moved the saftey after a spill with his horse .
#3 Mauser safties aren't infallable either.
Getsme going every time . taking remote learning course in gunsmithing ,that instructer advises to roughly subject the gun to all manor of abuse including a rubber mallet to action bolt trigger gard then stricking the but on the floor using a 2ft drop more if fitted with a recoil pad. Also using a two finger max squeeze with safty on then push safty off and repeat all above . For any trigger or safty repair or adjustment .

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Well at least Ruger stamps just about all of the warning messages from their owners manual on the barrel of their guns. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more and not less of this kind of crap from manufacturers in the future.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

I'm getting anxious myself to see these pictures. :D

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

NO body is responsible fer nuthin' these days! Everything is always somebody else's fault!

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

"NO body is responsible fer nuthin' these days! Everything is always somebody else's fault!"

That sure is the truth. About 15 years ago my son was a mechanic for a large dealer in lawn equipment. He showed me a lawsuit where a guy tied down the safety brake on a lawn mower, upped the throttle, picked up the machine by hand and was using it to trim his hedge. Not surprisingly, he lost all his fingers: Then hesued the maker of the mower.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Had a friend of mine adj his trigger on his Savage 22-250 so low that it would go off by it's self... I told him it was to light and he just said that he would walk around with it unloadedI stopped ground hog hunting with him that summer...

I think at some point people need to spend the 25$ and let a good gun smith do your trigger;)

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Not sure, but you may have just solved the whole JFK conspiracy with the whole "magic bullet" thing.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

You've got to be kidding me!

Some people in this world that are dumb enough to bringthat into a lawsuit need to be struck by lightning to improve their thinking.

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

Trial lawyers are the enemy of us all.

There was a guy in my town where I grew up that was picking corn on his cousin's farm. The combine jammed, he dismounted and proceded to unjam the combine and lost two legs and an arm in the process. He sued John Deere and got an award (I hate using this term in this context- 'award' is typically something earned[:@])close to $10million despite the fact that safeties and guards that might have prevented loss of limbs had been previously removed by his cousin and the fact that he didn't really have any experience or training with the machinery.[:'(]

RE: Rifle went off in my hands!!!!!
 

And after all of this talk about sueing we get upset when guns get redesigned to be "safer" like Ruger MK3 handgun.
Everyone complains about the heavy trigger pull weights but when something like this happens I almost understand why the gunmakers are afraid to make a good, adjustable trigger.
Make it Idiot proof and they build a better idiot!